Volleyball Preview: Watertown Arrows vs. Lincoln Patriots
After ten games on the road, Watertown is heading back home. They will host the Lincoln Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
Watertown is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Dakota's top teams: Roosevelt, who was ranked 11th in their home state at the time (Watertown was ranked seventh). Watertown put the hurt on Roosevelt with a sharp 3-0 victory on Tuesday.
While Watertown won a shutout, things came down to the wire in the third set they played. The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-23.
Natalie Pearson and Emery Thury were among the main playmakers for Watertown as the former had eight digs and four aces and the latter hit 52.5% for 23 kills13 digs, two aces, and a block. Thury is on a roll when it comes to kills, as she's now had eight or more in the last 28 games she's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Lincoln got the win against Tea on Thursday by a conclusive 3-0.
The final score came out to 25-18, 25-10, 25-10.
Lincoln's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Julia Blom, who had nine digs.
Lincoln was lethal from the service line and finished the game with 14 aces. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now served at least five aces in five consecutive contests.
Watertown is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 16-4 record this season. As for Lincoln, they now have a winning record of 9-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Tuesday's matchup: Watertown has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 6.8 aces per game. However, it's not like Lincoln struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Watertown beat Lincoln 3-1 in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Blom, who had 23 digs and four aces. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Watertown still be able to contain Blom? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
